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de novo

De novo is a Latin term that means "anew," "from the beginning," or "afresh." When a court  hears a case “de novo,” it is deciding the issues without reference to any legal conclusion  or assumption made by the previous court  to hear the case. An appellate court  hearing a case “de novo” may refer to the lower court ’s record  to determine the facts , but will rule on the evidence  and matters of law without deferring to that court’s findings . A trial court  may also hear a case  “de novo” following the appeal  of an arbitration decision .

De novo review  occurs when a court  decides an issue without deference to a previous court 's decision. Trial de novo  occurs when a court  decides all issues in a case , as if the case  was being heard for the first time.

Trials de novo are not common due to the time and judicial resources required to try the facts of a case more than once. However, de novo review of legal matters on appeal is quite common. 

[Last reviewed in August of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team
]

Keywords

• APPELLATE PROCEDURE

• COURTS OF APPEALS

• appellate practice

• DE NOVO REVIEW

• standard of review

Wex

• ACADEMIC TOPICS

• trial process/advocacy

• THE LEGAL PROCESS

• appellate procedure

• criminal procedure

• wex definitions

• civil procedure

• courts and procedure